Toy tiger sparks armed police callout in Scotland

Armed police responded to a callout after a farmer reported a tiger on his property.
Photo credit: The Telegraph UK

A toy tiger sparked an armed police callout in Scotland after a farmer thought he saw one of the wild animals in his cow shed.

Bruce Grubb, 24, of Aberdeenshire, Scotland called police in fear the predator would attack his pregnant cows, The Telegraph reported.

His suspicions rose after a 45 minute standoff with the animal and it wasn't until driving towards it he realised he was looking at a large plush toy.

By this time several police vehicles including an armed unit had responded to the incident - officers had even checked with the local wildlife park to check if a tiger was on the loose.

After police were made aware of the situation, Police said they regarded the incident as a "false call".

Officers removed the toy tiger, telling a embarrased Mr Grubb they wanted to keep it as a mascot.

Mr Grubb said "I feel a bit silly for calling police but I thought it was a real emergency. We're laughing about it now but it was scary at the time".

Inspector George Cordiner said "Unusual as the call may have seemed, any call reporting a potential danger to the public has to be taken seriously and efforts were made to verify the sighting as soon as possible, including starting to make contact with the nearest wildlife park to make sure they did not have an escapee.

"Our ultimate aim is to protect the public and keep our officers safe when faced with uncertain situations. Until you know exactly what you are dealing with, every option has to be considered.

"The incident was stood down within 45 minutes once officers attended and established there was no threat to the public."